A brief History of Pozzolans, PFA and Cement

Pozzolans 2) Separating other useful products from the

PFA, such as cenospheres and magnetic
A pozzolan is usually defined as a fine grained spheres.
siliceous material that chemically reacts with 3) Cleaning the PFA to remove surface
calcium hydroxide (lime) and alkalis to form impurities such as alkali salts.
cementitious compounds. Broadly, these can 4) Sizing the PFA to achieve the optimum
be derived from natural or artificial origins. particle size for reactivity. This material is
predominantly below 45µm in particle size.
Natural Pozzolans include: volcanic ash,
pumice, tuff, diatomaceous earth and opaline Cement
shale.
The main raw material used to produce cement
Artificial Pozzolans include: fly ash and fly ash is limestone, which is blended with other raw
derived products from the combustion of coal in materials such as clay or shale. Most modern
power stations, rice husk ash, brick dust, cement is manufactured using the 'dry' process,
calcined kaolin, condensed silica fume, ground where the raw materials are crushed, blended
granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and some and ground to a fine powder (meal) in a roller
other metallurgical slags. mill. The raw meal is then heated up to
approximately 900ºC in a pre-heater tower
Fly Ash or PFA before being fed into a kiln. In the kiln, the meal
undergoes a chemical reaction at 1450ºC to
PFA is an artificial pozzolan produced when produce cement clinker. The clinker is ground in
pulverised coal is burned in coal fired electricity raw mills and a small amount of gypsum is
generating stations. Coal is not 100% carbon added to improve the working properties of the
but also contains clays, shales, limestone, end product, cement.
dolomite and some sulphide minerals. The
clays, shales, limestone and dolomite do not How Does It Work?
burn but melt at the high temperatures in the
furnace to become glass spheres. These glass PFA derived cement constituents reacts with
spheres are then separated from the exhaust lime to produce calcium silicate and aluminate
gases by mechanical and/or electrostatic hydrates:
separators and are collected in storage hoppers
as PFA. Depending on the residual carbon Cement Constituent [Si/Al] + Calcium hydroxide
content and the particle size distribution, the [Ca(OH)2] = Calcium silicate and aluminate
PFA can sometimes be used directly as a hydrates.
cement constituent (BS 3892 Part 1 or EN450
material), however an improved cement This is similar to the reaction that cement
constituent can be produced by: undergoes:

1) Separating the residual carbon from the Cement [Tricalcium silicate] + Water [H2O] =
alumino-silicate component, thereby Calcium hydroxide + Calcium silicate hydrate.
reducing the residual carbon content of the
to less than 1% (and beneficially PFA derived cement constituent can therefore
producing a saleable carbon concentrate). be used to substitute cement in cement/PFA
blends, and in fact there are positive benefits to fact the name is derived from the volcanic ash
doing so. found from Puzzuoli, near Napoli, in Italy. It is
now thought that the Puzzuoli material was
History of Use almost exclusively used for marine construction
or bridge piers, and that other pozzolans
Stone Age 6500BC (harena fossicia – reactive volcanic sand, testa
Archaeologists now believe stone-age Syrians – calcined kaolinitic clay and carbunculus –
were the first to use burnt lime mortar for calcined volcanic stones) were used for
waterproofing water cisterns and possibly for construction on land. The best known and most
construction. The discovery of lime as a durable examples of Roman expertise with
building material is thought to have been as a concrete and mortars are the Pantheon Temple
consequence of using permanent fire pits built (128AD) and the Colliseum (82AD). Examples
from local limestone for cooking, since the heat in the UK include the Roman Pharos
of the fire converted the limestone to lime by (lighthouse) in Dover and parts of the London
driving off carbon dioxide. Wall.

Europe 5600BC
There is archaeological evidence of concrete
floors constructed from lime in huts along the
banks of the Danube in the former Yugoslavia.

China 3000BC
There is archaeological evidence of a type of
cement used in the Gansu Province in China.

Egyptians 2500BC The Pantheon temple was build by Emperor Hadrian in

The Egyptians are now thought to have used 128AD. It has a circular coffered concrete dome with a
either lime mortar or burnt gypsum cement to diameter of 43.3m and walls 6.1m thick. The dome has a
central opening of 8.9m. The dome is constructed of
construct the Great Pyramid. It is also possible stepped rings of solid concrete with less and less density
that the Egyptians were able to mould stone as lighter aggregate (pumice) is used, diminishing in
objects using cementitious materials. thickness to about 1.2m at the edge of the oculus.

Image Copyrighted by Historylink101.com & found at Italy and

Nabataeans 700BC? - 300BC Rome Picture Gallery
It has been postulated that the Nabataeans
were the first to use hydraulic (sets under water Saxons (700AD)
or waterproof) cement for lining water wells in Archaeological excavations in Northampton, UK,
the Arabian Desert. This is supported by have revealed Saxon ‘concrete mixers’,
evidence of ancient lime burning activities as although the concrete made at this time was
well as known sources of pozzolanic silica in the inferior to that of the Romans, and during the
area. ‘Dark Ages’ much of the Roman technology was
lost or forgotten.
Greeks 600BC
The Greeks are known to have used a natural The Middle Ages
pozzolan that developed hydraulic properties The Normans are credited with re-establishing
when mixed with lime. concrete construction, and they utilised quite
sophisticated concrete technology for their
Romans 200BC-476AD castles and abbeys, particularly those
The Romans are best known for their activities commissioned by Edward I.
with pozzolanic cements and mortars, and in
Thomas Smeaton (1759) 1970’s – Construction of Water Tower Place,
Thomas Smeaton, a British engineer, used a Chicago, USA (1976).
limestone/clay hydraulic mortar which he termed 1980’s – Washington metro subway, USA,
Portland (after the colour of Portland Stone) to constructed with 153,000m3 of concrete
construct the Eddystone Lighthouse. This stood containing PFA. Construction of the Picasso
for 127 years, until the rock on which it was sited Tower, Madrid (1989).
started to break down. It was subsequently 1990’s – Construction of paving at East
relocated to Plymouth Hove. Midlands Airport, UK, with PFA replacing 30% of
CEM I cement (1999). Construction of the
Channel Tunnel between UK and France
(1994). Construction of the Puylaurent Dam,
France (1996). Construction of Commerzbank
Tower, Frankfurt (1997).
2000’s – More engineers using PFA for mass
and structural concrete, with up to 40 - 60%
replacement of CEM I cement. Architects now
specifying use of PFA for environmentally aware
projects e.g. University of California Berkeley
Thomas Smeaton’s Eddystone Lighthouse now located at retrofit and EPA’s New England Regional
Plymouth Hove. In construction, Smeaton utilised a Laboratory.
hydraulic cement and interlocking granite blocks to his own
design. References

James Parker (1796) Fly Ash in Concrete – Properties and Performance, RILEM,
James Parker of England patented a quick 1991, ISBN 0 419 15790 5.
setting natural hydraulic cement called Parkers The History of Concrete and the Nabataeans, CanBooks
2002.
or Roman Cement. Concrete, Flyash and the Environment – Proceedings of a
forum sponsored by EHDD Architecture.
Joseph Aspdin (1824)
Joseph Aspdin, A Leeds bricklayer, patented
Portland cement. Working with Joseph Aspdin’s
son, William, Isambard Kingdom Brunel used
Portland cement to first repair then to reline his
Thames tunnel. This was probably the first
major engineering application of concrete.

Recent Applications

More recent high volume applications of PFA

concrete include:

1940’s – US Bureau of Reclamation repairs to

the tunnel spillway at the Hoover Dam, USA
(1942).
1950’s – Construction of the Hungry Horse
Dam, Montana, USA (1952). Approximately
35% of Portland cement was replaced by coal
PFA. Six other dams were constructed during
the 1950’s using PFA concrete.